Zhu Lihua is a 65-year-old blind massage therapist (推拿师) and a member of the CPC (中国共产党) for 28 years. She has helped over 100 blind people find jobs, gave away 5.06 million yuan to hundreds of poor students and treated many patients over the past few years.

Zhu became blind when she was 18. At first, she was very sad. But in 1983, she heard the story of Zhang Haidi on the radio. Then Zhu became happy again and took part in the massage training for blind people in 1985. After three years of training, she began to work at a local orphanage (孤儿院). Zhu’s magic hands helped many children.

As a person living in Jiaxing city, Zhu has been influenced (影响) by the Red Boat spirit since she was a child. She joined the CPC in 1994. Driven by the Red Boat spirit, Zhu started a massage training center in 2008. It only trained blind people.

Where there are difficulties, there are helping hands from Zhu. In 2008, Zhu heard the news of the Wenchuan earthquake on TV and gave 100,000 yuan to the hard-hit area of the earthquake. And by now she has treated over 4,000 servicemen freely.

Three years ago, Zhu Lihua became the “Touching China 2019 Person of the Year”. All people said. “Although bad luck closed her door, Zhu opened a window of hope for others.”

Most people remember their childhood by looking at old photos or videos. But for some, they choose to remember it by making models of their old homes where they grew up.

Du Yi, a Chinese miniature (微缩模型) artist, used to make models of historic buildings. One day, a friend asked him to make a model of his old home in the countryside. He thought it was meaningful, so he helped. After he posted a short video online, it went viral. He won thousands of followers. Today, he has over 200,000 followers online.

Du often makes the miniature house 30 times smaller than its real size. It usually takes him one to two months to make a model with the pictures provided by customers. Hundreds of small pieces and about 50 different things, including wood, paper, and things straight from nature are used. He often visits the villages to take a closer look at the homes. He can spend the whole week studying one building, trying to understand the story, shapes and colors. “I have to be very careful about the homes. If they are good, the work will come to life,” Du says. His miniature houses are sold at a starting price of around 20,000 yuan.

“When I first saw the model of my old home, it took me back to my childhood. Grandfather taught me how to farm and make toys from things around us,” says Hao Wei, one of Du’s customers.

When a skillful hand meets the need of people, a good business starts.

Lots of students are too busy doing their homework to help out with housework. So, many parents want to know if they should give their children chores. Well, there’s no need to worry.     16    

First, doing chores helps children learn to be independent. Parents can’t stay by their children’s side all the time.     17     And these skills will help them be ready for the day when they go to college or take care of their own houses.

    18     When children finish a chore, they will not only take pride in a job well done but also have confidence in their ability to do things well.

Third, doing chores makes it possible for children to develop good relationships with their family, friends and partners. Doing chores together with family can make children more caring for their family. And they begin to learn their responsibility in a family or a group.     19     They will know that if they work together as a team, things will be completed quicker and better.

    20     Yes! And it should be on the top of the list. Now, my friends, are you ready to help?

Jack sat alone on the bus ride home. All his friends were ________ their homework excitedly, but Jack kept silent.

When the bus stopped, he ran home, ________ his schoolbag on the floor, and walked straight to his bedroom.

“Jack?” Grandpa’s ________ called out. “Was that you?”

Jack stopped ________ he closed his bedroom door. “Yes, Grandpa, it’s me.”

Grandpa came, carrying a ________. “You don’t sound okay,” he said as he ate it.

Should Jack tell Grandpa the truth? He quickly ________ they should build something with an adult together this weekend. The students needed to make a ________ to explain how their homework had gone.

Grandpa listened quietly. “________ are you so unhappy?”

Jack felt his ________ and anger rising inside him. “Because I don’t have anyone to help me.” He sounded so sad and angry.

Grandpa raised his eyebrows (眉毛) ________. “What am I?” he asked gently.

Jack surprised. “You’d finish homework with me, Grandpa?”

“Sure, I would,” Grandpa said. “Just let me finish this sandwich.”

Jack’s heart seemed so ________ that he thought it would float (漂浮) away. He rushed to the schoolbag and ________ his homework paper. Then, they studied hard and made a list of ideas. Finally, they ________ to build a cardboard robot from old boxes. They used almost everything they found. Grandpa helped a lot and he ________ found a box of eyeball stickers (贴纸).

When they finished, Jack looked at their newly-built one. He couldn’t stop smiling. “I think it’s the best ________ I have ever built. Now I have to write my report,” Jack said, hugging Grandpa. “Thank you, Grandpa. I had a lot of fun.”